Walter E. Grauman

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm on directing two episodes of Mad Men and what it was like to be on both sides of the camera; on turning down the opportunity to direct in season seven; on what he as an actor brings to directing

Jon Hamm on learning from the other directors of Mad Men and learning from all sets he's been on

Jay Sandrich

Jay Sandrich on working as a second assistant director at Desilu Studios in the 1950s, and what that job entailed

Jay Sandrich on working as a first assistant director on the set of I Love Lucy during the tumultous period when Lucille Bal and Desi Arnaz were fighting off-screen, and how he survived this and learned from the experience

Jay Sandrich on learning first-hand how the three-camera set up for shooting on film worked on the set of I Love Lucy

Jay Sandrich on getting the experience of running cameras on the set of The Danny Thomas Show and getting the technical practice he needed to be a director

Jay Sandrich on learning about directing for comedy from Sheldon Leonard on the set of The Danny Thomas Show

Jay Sandrich describes his fear over his first stint as director on The Danny Thomas Show

Jay Sandrich on being turned down by Sheldon Leonard when he asked to direct The Dick Van Dyke Show

Jay Sandrich on working with and learning from Sheldon Leonard and a series of great directors on The Danny Thomas Show (Make Room for Daddy)

Jay Sandrich on directing comedy, where he'd "rather laughs came out of the humanity of the character" inspired by the comic talents of Don Knotts and Andy Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show

Jay Sandrich on learning the importance of collaborative efforts between a director and a writer, as with Leonard Stern on He & She

Jay Sandrich on his directing style for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and clashes with producer/writer James L. Brooks

Jay Sandrich on how a disastrous runthrough of the first episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show transformed into a very successful first taping

Jay Sandrich on the differences in working with the actors Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, and Cloris Leachman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Jay Sandrich on finding different ways to do a scene on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Jay Sandrich on managing all the writers on the The Mary Tyler Moore show

Jay Sandrich on a favorite episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show that presented a difficult writing challenge

Jay Sandrich on a director's job: to know when it's working and when it's not, and his demeanor on-set of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Jay Sandrich on the importance of a studio audience on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Jay Sandrich on directing the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Jay Sandrich on the challenges faced by the writers and cast for the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Jay Sandrich on "the biggest part of the job" - casting, and why it's important for a director and what he looks for in actors

Jay Sandrich on the first show, We'll Get By, to tape all four cameras and the difference between film and tape

Jay Sandrich on the challenges of casting the controversial show Soap

Jay Sandrich on the challenges of directing Soap: keeping all the cast happy as well as dealing with groups protesting the show's religious and gay issues

Jay Sandrich on having fun directing within time constraints, and finding ways to depict sex in a subtle way on Soap

Jay Sandrich on how good writing is what inspires him as a director

Jay Sandrich on casting The Cosby Show

Jay Sandrich on some of the technical challenges of The Cosby Show, and on working with Bill Cosby

Jay Sandrich on the problems with cameras they had on The Cosby Show and why they had to replace them

Jay Sandrich on The Cosby Show episode "Denise's Friend"; directing an episode that didn't start out as being funny and finding the humor

Jay Sandrich on the final episode of The Cosby Show: on knowing when a series has gone on too long

Jay Sandrich on how the role of a television director has changed

Jay Sandrich on how he changed his own directorial style and how editing helped him as a director

Jay Sandrich on his advice to young directors: always take stands

Jay Sandrich on learning a valuable lesson about directing from actor Richard Benjamin

“The best way [to direct] is prepare good and prepare right and know what you want to do. Everything else is going to fall in place.” - Reza Badiyi, Director

The television director, who sits atop the chain of command of the crew during the actual filming or taping of the show, is responsible for the visualization of the TV program, selecting the different camera angles and compositions that will used. Beyond this most general definition, however, the nature of the director's job, and the relative importance of the director's creative contribution to the finished product, varies greatly among different forms and genres of television.

One basic distinction in TV production exists between single-camera (film-style) and multi-camera work. In single-camera production each shot is staged individually, allowing precise camera positioning and lighting. Repeated 'takes' are shot until the director is satisfied with the results. The action is filmed or taped out-of-sequence based on a logic of set-ups for camera and lighting. Actors must break their performance into non-continuous bits that still appear coherent when assembled later in the editing room. In this type of production, then, performance is adjusted to fit the visual scheme. Virtually all prime-time television dramas, programs generally one hour or longer, are produced in this manner. Common genres include action-adventure, crime, medical, courtroom, melodrama, and 'prime-time soap opera.' The television drama is the format in which the TV director has the most control and the most creative input--operating most like a feature film director. Yet, even here the director's role is more limited than a film director's. The series nature of television necessitates an exceptionally demanding production schedule and a rigid organization of labor, giving the director certain responsibilities, removing or restricting others.